1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inkjet printer, and more particularly, to a wet-type wiping apparatus which is capable of effectively cleaning an inkjet print head, and a maintenance apparatus having the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, an inkjet printer prints an image by attaching droplets of ink created by heating the ink stored in a cartridge onto a paper sheet through nozzles, and comprises a wiping apparatus for preventing ink residue from being adhered to an ink head and the print quality from being deteriorated in the next printing.
A conventional wiping apparatus and a maintenance apparatus having the same are described below referring to FIGS. 1 and 2.
Inside the printer body 10, a carriage 20 with an ink cartridge 21 mounted thereon is disposed to move left and right. The movement area of the carriage 20 is divided into a print area P in which ink is sprayed through a nozzle portion 21a of the ink cartridge 21, and a service area S in which the carriage 20 is parked 30 or ink at the nozzle portion 21a is cleaned. A maintenance apparatus is disposed at one side of the service area S.
The ink cartridge 21 disposed in the carriage 20 sprays ink as it moves left and right in the print area P. When the printing is completed, the ink cartridge 21 moves into the service area S. At this time, the wiping apparatus 33 wipes the nozzle portion 21a of the print head, cleaning off the ink from the nozzle portion 21a. When the wiping finishes, the carriage 20 stops, and a cap 34 is positioned below the nozzle portion 21a and closes the nozzle portion 21a, thus preventing the ink from drying. A reference numeral 31 denotes a housing, 32 a slider, 35 a guide groove, 36 a guide protrusion, 37 a stopping part, and 38 a latching member.
Such a wiping apparatus 33 is for dry wiping and only wipes off ink by a physical frictional force between the wiping apparatus 33 and the nozzle portion 21a of the ink cartridge/printhead. However, since the print head is always dry due to certain characteristics of the print head and the surrounding environment, the ink residue is not completely wiped off with the dry wiping.
Accordingly, there has been a suggestion for a method of moving the wiping apparatus 33 to a separate apparatus (not shown) which is capable of providing moisture, wetting the wiping apparatus 33 by the separate apparatus, and then returning the wiping apparatus 33 back to the initial position, that is, to the wiping position prior to wiping the nozzle portion 21a of the print head. However, such a method requires a means for moving the wiping apparatus 33 and the separate apparatus for providing moisture, thus increasing the number of parts and manufacturing costs.